Dec. 21, 2012

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Monserrate Shirley talks with a reporter and photographer about her home explosion Nov. 13, 2012. Shirley, along with two others, were charged with felony murder on Friday. / Robert Scheer/The Star

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It feels like the climax of a sad, twisted episode of "CSI." Only it's horrifyingly real.

Not only are three people accused of deliberately blowing up a house in the Richmond Hill neighborhood. They apparently did such a sloppy job of it that they leveled or damaged more than 80 homes, and killed a young couple in the process.

And for what? According to authorities, they did for it money. About $300,000 in insurance money.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry had it right when he called the crime -- if things pan out as listed in the probable cause affidavit -- a "thoroughly, thoroughly senseless act."

As expected, prosecutors on Friday charged three people with felony murder: Monserrate Shirley, the owner of the house; her live-in boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Robert Leonard. Each also face charges of conspiracy to commit arson, 12 counts of arson and 33 counts of arson.

Like many people following the case, I became suspicious when it was reported that Shirley and her boyfriend were gone on a weekend vacation at the time of the explosion -- and had boarded their cat. Who boards a cat for two days?

Now, like many others, I am disgusted by the apparent gall and stupidity of the defendants.

In the probable cause affidavit, authorities allege that the three released natural gas into the house over the course of six to nine hours before detonating it with a microwave oven on a timer. They removed a valve to the fireplace as well as a regulator that controls the levels of natural gas flowing to appliances in the house.

What's more, according to authorities, they also tried and failed to blow up the house a week before the explosion.

It's astounding that Shirley, a 47-year-old nurse, gave The Indianapolis Star a teary-eyed exclusive interview to plead her case.

"Everybody's pointing a finger at me like I did something wrong," she told reporters last month. "I mean, I'm totally devastated like my neighbors are."

Shirley was right about one thing. Her neighbors were devastated. Homes were destroyed. Lives -- those of John "Dion" Longworth, 34, and his wife, Jennifer, 36, -- were lost.

And now three people stand accused of planning that devastation. If found guilty, they deserve as severe a punishment as the law allows.